Kept in Bondage
by jayde sulivan
Summary: This is a story of a girl Grave Robber meets while in the depths of GeneCo's holding cells. A girl that they never mentioned, the girl that Nathan Wallance never fought for. His first born daughter, Carly Wallance. The daughter that GeneCo took as an informal form of collateral.
1. Chapter 1

The room he was put in was musty this time around, not full of antiquities and lit candles. Unlike the last time, no one was meant to come through here. The only light in the room was from the floating advertisement billboard that hovered over the city like a watchdog and a few candles that were lit in various corners of the room. Just like before Grave Robber was hung upsidedown by his ankles, only this time his hands were cuffed. Twice in one week, wow he had hit a new low. He needed to stay the fuck away from Amber Sweet. The only reason he dealt with her was because she was a regular that always paid in one way or another… his job got him all that he needed and more, but having low moments like these almost didn't make the whole thing worth it. Wondering whether or not he could get out alive was a feeling he loved and loathed. The waiting was the worst part. This place was a house of horror. Grave Robber wasn't a squeamish man- hell, he extracted zydrate from corpses. But the screams that penetrated through the ceiling above him made his inside clench. They had been going on since the previous evening, and whoever was inflicting them was not letting up. With a sudden crack, the lights of the holding cells turned on.

"Christ." He hissed and covered his eyes with his hands.

"Goddamnit Pavi, I just changed my shirt."

"I've-a never heard someone bitch-a as much as you."

"Shut the fuck up and dump her."

With that a mass tumbled down the grimy concrete stairs, and to his surprise what they'd dropped was breathing- and female. With a painful lurch the girl did her best to sit up, her breath was shallow but every part of her body that they could see was strong. Her torso revealed up straight and unmoving while her arms shook behind her back as they supported her.

"Good morning." Pavi Largo greeted Grave Robber lazily and trudged down the stairs with his brother behind him. "Morning paper?" He asked crassly and threw a paper at Grave Robber, as expected it was adorned with Shilo's face and headlines of blood sagas. The two of them drew closer to the girl, causing her to back up against a wall.

"Amber said to waste her." Luigi grimaced and looked at her in amusement.

"No…I don't think I'm a-ready to let go of my pet just yet." Pavi leaned down and smiled as much as his mask would let him. His smile morphed into a deep frown when the girl spat on it. Luigi growled and grabbed the girl by the hair, and made sure the back of his hand left a lasting impression on her cheek.

"You're so lucky her hands are useful." Luigi snarled at both the girl and Pavi as he roughly pulled her to him to put a pair of handcuffs on her as well.

"Fuck off." She spat as she struggled against his hands and their attempts to subdue her, she used every bit of strength to kick, bite and scratch at him until he finally slapped the handcuffs on her. To Grave Robbers amusement, from behind her strands of jet black hair her lip curled upward in a silent growl as her eyes bore into the Largo brothers. Her body was slumped into a loose ball like a injured animal, but her eyes and her breathing demanded a fight.

"Get your worthless asses up here, we have a press appearance." Amber called from a top the staircase, just before Luigi was about to swing his foot into the girl's stomach.

"We'll be back." Pavi winked at the girl before their exit.

Both Grave Robber and the girl sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. The sounds of her shallow and broken breath made him feel uncomfortable, he preferred normal breathing or no breathing at all. Swinging back and fourth slightly to stretch his back, he turned his head toward the person he was now sharing the room with.

"Hello." He gave her a very small smile.

"Hi." She grunted and tried to sit up properly. Grave Robber would have taken a step backward as he cringed if he hadn't been suspended in the air. Bruises littered what part of her body that was exposed, including her face.

"So, seeing as we're going to be here for a while we may as well get acquainted. I'm-" Grave Robber shook off the shiver that went up his spine when the full impact of the fact that the girl he'd heard screaming for hours was her, and the bruises and lacerations only proved it further.

"I know who you are." She cut him off and shook more hair out of her face. Without the damage he was sure she looked lovely, to him he only saw horror in battered women. Her eyes were a deep chocolate brown, her nose was small and delicate and he could see her lips were full even though they were pressed into a pained thin line.

"Do you?" He grinned.

"Yeah. I don't know what you did this time but you really must have pissed Amber off." Her breath was still shallow unless she took a sporadic deep breath.

"I'm just as clueless as you are. She wanted, she paid, I facilitated and wound up here. Now, what is your name?" Grave Robber lurched up ward to try and untie the knots around his ankles.

"Why?"

"Well, I know everyone in this city for one reason or another. Yet, I don't k now you. I'm curious." He stopped what he was doing for a second and looked her in the eye as he addressed her.

"Carly." She muttered and looked away from him.

"That's lovely. Do you have a last name?" He inquired and began to try and unknot the heavy rope once again. There was a few minutes of silence, and after the first two Grave Robber looked over at her in annoyance of her lack of answer. The fact that he'd never met her and didn't even know her name bothered him and the fact that she was denying him of an answer drove him crazy.

"…Wallace." she finally uttered. Grave Robber's hands stopped moving as he turned his head over to get a better look at her face.

_

Hi guys! Please let me know what you think and if you want me to continue.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wallace…" He repeated as if she heard her incorrectly and tried to pry the knot loose. He was almost there, enough to let his feet wiggle around and grind against he prickly rope.

"Yes. My 'father' was no friend of yours, well anyone's." She nearly spat the confirmation and winced as a pain in her lungs pierced through her torso.

"Interesting… How old are you?" Grave Robber asked.

_Holy shit. The Repo man Nathan Wallace had another daughter._

"Twenty one as if an hour ago. Happy fucking birthday, huh?" She sighed and leaned back against a wall, he could tell by her breathing that her ribs had been damaged.

"Wallace, I've known a few Wallace's in my time." Grave Robber smirked, trying to hide his bewilderment. He knew everyone, everyone. How in the hell had she slipped passed him?

"What a surprise. I'm one but I've never met one." She tugged at her handcuffs angrily.

"So what are you in here for?" Grave Robber changed the subject.

"Breathing…" She grumbled and rubbed her raw wrists.

"Me too. Well, doing business too…" he trailed off quietly when the blood in his head began to make it feel like his skull was going to explode. "Fuck." He muttered and pulled himself up as much as he could.

"Are you okay?" Her voice was soft but firm, as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Fine. Get some sleep, Carly. You look like you need it." He sighed and loosened the knots enough to get his feet out of them and lightly landed on the ground.

"Sleep is for the dead." She denied his offer and curled into a tighter ball. Grave Robber knew body language, her lips were telling him no but her body was telling him she was exhausted.

"You can be dead for a few hours." Grave Robber assured her.

"I can't sleep."

"Why not?"

"Because they gave me a shot of something before they threw me under here… " Her tone was strong but underneath her façade he could tell she as afraid. Afraid that she wouldn't wake up- though she would never admit it. Grave Robber knew better.

"Seeing as in my profession there is no breathing, I'm sure that I will be more than capable of detecting whether or not you stop in the middle of the night." Grave Robber grinned and casually slid down the wall to sit next to Carly.

"Point taken." Her lips curled into a small smile and within a few seconds her breathing was still erratic but slower and stronger. The sound was different than what Grave Robber usually heard during the long hours of the night, but he found it oddly comforting. Draping a near by blanket over her, he stared at a fly bashing itself into the room's overhead light and listened intently to the sound of Carly's slow but far from peaceful breaths.

The Grave Robber's eyes slowly cracked open as the beam of sunlight coming from the space between the stairwells door and the floor shined directly into his eyes.

By the brightness of the light he could tell he had only been asleep for about an hour or two. Once the cogs of his mind began to turn a little faster he stopped breathing and looked down at the girl next to him, his ears sharp. His spine relaxed when he heard her breath resonate throughout the empty space. Grave Robber also noticed the sound of hustling footsteps had multiplied and took his cue to get back to hanging.

After a few moments of dangling Grave Robber noticed the sound he'd been listening too all night had ceased and was quicker.

"Good morning." Carly yawned groggily and cracked her spine.

"Good morning. You see, I made sure you were breathing. For a second I wasn't sure you were so I gave you mouth to mouth, just in case. You taste delicious by the way." Grave Robber winked at her.

"I hope you enjoyed yourself." She snorted and Grave Robber couldn't help but laugh in return. He wasn't used to a woman giving attitude back to him, he liked it.

"I did…" Grave Robber smirked and broke the silence that blanketed them. "So what was it like being a Repo man's daughter?"

"I wouldn't know. He gave me up to the Largo's when my mom died, I was three." She broke eye contact with him and swung her hair out of her face distractedly.

"I see. I had the opportunity of meeting your sister."

"Oh really? What was my dear little sister like?" Her tone laced with venom.

Their conversation was interrupted when the doors in the stairwell flung open. The clicking of solid boots echoed and bounced off of the walls, as Pavi sauntered down the stairs and grinned at Carly. **Both** prisoners glared and snarled at him as he drew closer.

Hey guys! Hope you like the second chapter, any feed back would be great.


	3. Chapter 3

"Did you sleep well pet?" Pavi's lips lifted into a smile from under the face he wore.

"Fuck off Pavi." Carly spat at his feet.

Pavi ignored her and crouched down on his knees to touch her shin as he spoke, slowly creeping up her leg "You know you can't-a resist the Pavi. You try, but deep down…" his hand made its way up to her inner thigh. Grave Robber glowered at him angrily as Carly's face contorted in disgust.

"You know, we are-a no longer looking for surgeons. So your-a services are technically not longer needed. Or at least that's what Amber said." Pavi's hand moved up higher to touch her sex under the skimpy skirt they'd given her to wear and through her panties.

"Then release me." She demanded with a growl.

"Only patients and employees leave-a here alive. Seeing as you are now neither, I have plans for you." Pavi's finger slipped past her panties and rubbed at her sex, making her squirm in disgust.

"I prefer cancer." Carly lifted her foot and kicked him hard square in the chest, knocking him backward.

"Fine. But one more game, pet. For old times sake." Pavi's face was sinister as he referred to the many times he had tied her down.

"No!" Carly squealed as he picked her up and leaned her over a table, pinning her against it as he undid his pants.

"Scream." He smiled maniacally and roughly thrust himself into her. He grabbed her by the hair while cupping her breast with the other hand. This was not new to her, Pavi had been using her as his personal toy between genterns for years but the shame and humiliation hurt never lessened.

"Stop!" She screamed and fought against the handcuffs, sobbing as Pavi violated her once more. A loud knock almost put the room into complete silence as Grave Robber smacked Pavi hard over the head with a near by pipe. Grave Robber's lividly heavy breathing cut through the quiet whimpers that mingled with Carly's broken and shallow ones. Almost immediately the smaller man fell over and onto he floor like a sack of potatoes. Once his body was off of Carly she scrambled away from him and against the wall again she was originally at. Facing Grave Robber but not looking at him, she kept an eye on Pavi to make sure he was still unconscious. Grave Robber searched through Pavi's pockets until he found the key to her handcuffs and slowly took a step toward her.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I want to get you out of those." Grave Robber held his hands up with his palms facing her, with they key in his hand. After a few moments her eyes finally lifted to him and she pealed her back from off of the wall and turned her back to him. Slowly he walked toward her and gently removed the metal from her wrists.

"We have to get out of here." Grave Robber muttered, but Carly wasn't listening. She was already off the wall and her foot was already cranked back in motion to kick Pavi in the ribs. Grave Robber stood back, he wasn't going to stop this one. At least until he noticed she was hurting herself in the process. At this point her breath had become ragged from her rib injury and she couldn't stand on her foot properly when she stood on it to regain her balance.

"Enough," Grave Robber pulled her away from Pavi did his best to hold her still "Enough." He soothed her until she eventually stopped fighting him and quietly cried in his arms. "Let's go." Grave Robber said nothing more, picked her up bridal style and quietly weaved their way out of GeneCo through their empty basement hallways, just like he did the last time. He was starting to think that there was something to this Wallace family, though how she ended up here puzzled him. Why Shilo had never mentioned her puzzled him, why she didn't go to her big sister after the opera poked at his brain. Everything about this girl puzzled him, for once he was the one seeking out information about someone else.

* * *

As the clock digital clock beeped at six o'clock Carly's eyes flew open in panic. Her firs thought was "Who's shirt am I wearing?" until she realized that she was no longer in GeneCo's basement, but in an apartment. A really beautiful apartment that had been a fire house in the last couple decades, maybe even a century. The red brick walls, the pole, the rustic and sturdy interior was only something that you saw in old movies. A pair of feet at the end of the bed caught her eye, causing her to look down and then up at the person who's feet they belonged to. Grave Robber slept quietly above the covers next to her, as his mouth hung open slightly he had the quietest hint of a snore. Carly bit down on her lip and tried to be as quiet as possible as she got out of the bed and tried to locate a bathroom, but her foot screamed in protest.

She tried again...nope.

After a moment exhaustion hit her once again and she sighed, sitting down in defeat, at least until she decided she was going to try again in a few minutes.

"Let me help you before you resort to crawling." Grave Robber's voice mused from behind her, so smugly that she could practically hear the grin on his face.

"One shouldn't resort. They need to make their decisions with confidence and pride, even if it's fake."

"Yeah, yeah." Grave Robber rolled his eyes and looped one arm around her waist to help her up, after a few steps she could manage to get in and out of the bathroom on her own.

"What would you like for breakfast? I have pop tarts, eggs, burritos." Grave Robber called and pulled out a silver filmed packet of poptarts for himself.

"Nothing, thank you. I have to be going." She said hurriedly and started putting her shoes on.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah. Somewhere down town."

"You're pretty, but a shitty liar."

"I am not."

"You're lying right now."

"Look, I need to go." Carly glared at him as she shoved her foot into her other shoe and headed toward the door.

"I don't think so." Grave Robber shook his head and beat her to the door, blocking the exit with his body.

"Thank you, very much for getting me out of GeneCo. I appreciate it, really. But grateful or not, I will not stand being saved from my captors to become another prisoner. If you would kindly move-"

"Where are you going to go?"

"Please move."

"GeneCo's cops are probably out looking for you right now-"

"Please. Move."

"You're going to die if you go out there alone."

"Do _you_ want to die? Because that's what's going to happen to you if you don't get out of my way and forget that I exist."

"I couldn't forget a face like yours." Grave Robber murmured smoothly to her. Carly eyed him agitatedly and put a hand on his shoulder to move him but he caught it in mid movement and was careful as he held just above where the handcuffs had cut in.

"You are malnourished, you have no place to go, you have no money, clothes, or weapons and the most powerful family in the world is looking for you. Do you honestly think you can live out there for more than a week without being found?" Grave Robber said gravely, looking her dead in the chocolate brown eyes.

"I can manage." She said bitterly and looked away from him.

"I know you will, once you're better. I will not hold you prisoner, but I can't let you go out there now." Grave Robber's expression softened when he saw the distress in her eyes as she looked back up at him.

"You're not obligated to do this, you know." Her voice was soft.

"Go take a shower, and I'll make you something to eat. There are fresh clothes in my dresser." Grave Robber politely directed her and nodded his head toward the bathroom. With one last glare and silent huff she turned, got some clothes and stepped into the bathroom. Grave Robber didn't move away from the door until he heard the shower running.


	4. Chapter 4

Grave Robber eyed the concoction that he had created for the both of them to eat… oatmeal. Grave Robber could extract zydrate from even the toughest corpses, but cooking was a foreign territory to him. _You're just supposed to boil the water and mix in the stuff in the packet, right? It smells decent enough…_ his inspection was interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door opening. Grave Robber took a double take at the person that came through the door. Carly was almost unrecognizable with the amount of hair that she had chopped off. It barely touched her shoulders as she toweled it dry.

"Wow…" He whistled.

"I cleaned up my mess, promise." She assured him and hung up the towel on the door.

"Feel any better?" Grave Robber murmured and fished some spoons out of the drawer.

"Yeah, actually. Thank you." Carly sent him a small smile and pulled the corner of his oversized tunic out of her pants. He couldn't help but stare, she looked very much like Shilo from a glace. But once he got a better look at her face, and more importantly her eyes he could tell that the off white dress like shirt was the only resemblance to each other they held. Shilo's face was smooth, untainted from the cruelties of the world- at least when he first met her. Grave Robber wondered if Carly would have been like Shilo had she stayed with her father, and why she was with the Largo's still puzzle him to no end. The eldest of the Wallace siblings' eyes were sharp, but not shrewd while her younger sisters were wide with wonder. From what Grave Robber could see Carly was marred with the abuse the Largo's put her though, he could see it on her body and in her eyes. As terrible as it sounded, he was somewhat happy that Shilo didn't have to go through whatever hell Carly went through, the margin of difference between the two was ludicrous and he didn't even want to think about what truly made such a difference.

"This is pretty good." Carly nodded to herself and ate another spoonful of oatmeal.

"I apologize that I can't cook for shit. I usually consume my food from the burrito truck by my alley. Though, I do try to create food when I have the time…I'm just thankful that it doesn't move most of the time."

"Still as the dead. Speaking of which, how is this going to work?" Carly pegged him with a confused and frustrated stare.

"What?"

"Me staying here until I work something out. What do you want for rent? How can I go about obtaining clothes that aren't two sizes too big for me? All that jazz."

"No rent, as long as you're under my wing you live here for free." Grave Robber scoffed.

"No."

"No?" Grave Robber cocked an eyebrow in slight surprise.

"Absolutely not. What am I supposed to do, sit here and knit?" Carly raised her eyebrow right back at him.

"No. I my mother used to do that, I'll be damned if I have yarn strewn all over my own apartment. We'll find you something, don't worry your pretty little head." Grave Robber's mouth curled into a grin.

"Grave Robber…" Her voice lowered to a be-serious tone.

"Okay, what would you like to do?" Grave Robber rolled his eyes and pushed his oatmeal aside.

"Do you have connections?"

"My dear, you hardly need to ask." Grave Robber snorted, granted he hadn't met her but everyone knew that he had connections to everyone in the city.

"Any underground surgeons?"

"A few… why do you ask?" His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I need a day job." Carly shrugged her shoulders.

"Do you have a pocket sized medical school handbook in your pocket or something?" Grave Robber leaned forward and smiled in amusement.

"Don't need one." Carly scoffed and pulled a GeneCo badge out of her pocket, labeled Dr. Wallace.

"You're a…doctor." Grave Robber eyed the ID in slight surprise.

"Yes, what did you think…"

Grave Robber looked up Carly when she stopped talking mid sentence to see her face crinkled with hurt and disgust. And what was he to think? She had been taken by the Largo's, and Pavi had taken a particular interest in her. He did however realize that his assumption was rude to say the least.

"Kid, I didn't mean it like that." Grave Robber held is hand up to apologize.

"Kid? I'm no fucking kid." Carly glared at him haughtily and headed for the door.

"I'm sorry, force of habit your sister-" with them mention of her sister she slammed the door shut.

She strode angrily down random alleyways, not entirely sure where she was going. But she needed to go somewhere, anywhere. She didn't want to hear about her "family" she had no desire to know about her sister, or Grave Robber at that point in time. Why would she want to hear about the people that abandoned her?

Hours of aimless walking and hiding from GeneCo personnel did nothing but make it blindly apparent to Carly that she was hopelessly lost. The Largo's had never let her out of the confines of their hospitals except to do house calls and the annual Italian Renaissance fair.

"Carly…" Grave Robber's voice came softy from behind her as she took a breather.

"Please stop following me." Carly sighed and looked over at the man that loomed over her.

"I will. As soon as we're through with our agreement." Grave Robber stated and took a seat next to her and hummed quietly to himself, waiting. He could hear the frustration come out in her breathing, she was even putting up a brutal fight with her own mind. Eventually Carly stood up, silently complying and they both wordlessly began to walk back to his apartment. They both knew that at least for now he was her best means for survival, he just wished that she would stop fighting him.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been two hours and Grave Robber was silently beside himself. Carly had planted herself out on the balcony and had been staring at the descending sun. He was never good at apologies and her silence wasn't helping. He'd felt like he'd heard corpses make more noise than her. Taking a deep breath he sauntered out onto the balcony and leaned against the door and handed her a cup of tea.

"I'm an asshole." He stated, it was a start.

"Yes. But you couldn't have expected more, could you? Not after the display Pavi put on down in the basement... Look, I'll be out of your hair as long as I have a job as a surgeon. All I need you to do is provide me with some Z, and I'll pay you for it once I start getting customers. You won't know I'm here-"

"Why do you insist being invisible?" Grave Robber cut her off agitatedly. He didn't understand, she was beautiful and something that any one would be happy to look at. Most women he knew, who were beautiful went out of their way to be seen and noticed.

"You know the game Grave Robber. When you're invisible you're safe." The solemn trust in her words elicited a surprising emotion in him, for the second time a wave of pity washed through his body.

"That holds true when we're outside doing out dirty work, sure. But not in here." Grave Robber frowned and sat down next to her. "When you are here, you don't need to worry. You are protected." Being a reassuring person wasn't his forte but he hoped that for the both of them he wasn't failing miserably.

"Will you at least let me go grocery shopping once a week so I can make us proper food?" She asked and took a sip of tea he had made her, a silent agreement.

"Yes. Though I'm not sure how my stomach is going to handle real nourishment." Grave Robber sighed. "While we're at it, should we make a list of things we're not supposed to talk about?"

"No. Just follow your business guideline."

"And what's that?"

"Live in the moment and leave the past behind you."

"You can never escape your past, it will always be apart of who you are."

"I'm hoping you're wrong."

"…will you ever talk to me about how you ended up at GeneCo? What happened between you and your father?" Grave Robber mentally braced himself for her to hate him again and storm off, but she just continued to sip on her tea in silence.

"Perhaps one day…" She shrugged. And that was good enough for him, at least for now.

"I'll call up a few people for some equipment in the morning. For now, get some sleep okay?" Grave Robber patted her knee and set off to make himself comfortable on the couch.

"Good night Grave Robber- will you ever tell me your real name?" Carly called out from behind him.

"Sure, if you tell me your story." He grinned and settled into the cushions.

* * *

Carly was brought out of her peaceful slumber by the smell of burning food and the piercing beep of the smoke alarm.

"Sorry" Grave Robber grumbled and darted across the room to open up a window. "Oh I have a present for you."

"Oh yeah?" Carly smiled sleepily and waved smoke out of her face. Grave Robber grinned and placed a large duffle bag on the bag on the bed.

"Clean as they're gonna get." Grave Robber handed her a scalpel before resuming back to fanning smoke out the window. Before Grave Robber could look back over two arms wrapped around his neck.

"Thank you." Carly sighed and hugged Grave Robber tightly to her. The warm, solid, weight brought a sense of comfort that even he didn't understand but he wrapped his arms around her regardless and stood up straight so her toes lifted off the ground.

"I said I would take care of you didn't I?" Carly could just hear the shit eating grin on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

Carly marveled at the token to her sanity for the next couple months. Just below one of the most popular tattoo parlors in the city, stood her operating room. One gurney, two freezers and large tubs for disinfecting the tools in.

"It's not much…" Grave Robber grumbled and lifted the heavy bag full of instruments onto the gurney that stood stationary in the middle of the room.

"No, no, no. It's wonderful, thank you." Carly shushed him and stared around at the room in awe. For a moment she couldn't help but stare at him in awe too. No one had gone out of their way to do anything for her, at least for nothing in return. The kindness made her heart pound in her chest, it was overwhelming.

"Now all that's left to do is get you some clients, organs and zydrate and you're in business. I'll make a few calls in the morning." Grave Robber pulled his jacket tighter around him as they exited the room.

"This is a hell of an apology." Carly grunted as the door ground against the frame. Grave Robber shooed her away from the door and frowned when the door wouldn't even touch the frame.

"The fuck…" Grave Robber grumbled angrily and pulled at the door mercilessly with no prevail.

"It'd be helpful if you moved your boot out of the way…" Carly smiled and did her best not to laugh at the frustrated man.

"Thank you." Grave Robber stared at the door knob as if she hadn't said anything.

"I'm sorry, have I emasculated you?" Carly let out a hearty laugh he had never heard before.

"Carly…" Grave Robber grumbled again and put on his mean face. They both knew that he didn't mean it, but to say that he still didn't intimidate her would be a lie. Those icy blue eyes peering at her past strands of multicolored hair always seemed to catch her off guard.

"Sorry." she apologized and blushed.

Grave Robber stood up at full height and turned to face Carly, towering over her. Leaning and forward, he braced his arms against the wall on either side of her head and leaned down closer to her. "Now, how would you like to see what Amber was bitching about all these years?" his Cheshire grin glowed against the darkness of night.

"Absolutely." Carly said breathlessly.

* * *

Weaving through alleyways, they finally found their destination: Grave Robber's main alley. Within seconds those looking for a fix sprang from wherever they were at and approached the two of them. Knowing that he had work to do, Carly found a near by trash can and sat perched on top of it. The junkies came to Grave Robber for a reason- he was the best- and she didn't want to get in the way of that. Another pang of guilt rippled through her when she was reminded that the mere fact that he was taking her under his wing put him in danger.

"Who's the fresh meat Graves?" A random junkie strutted up to Carly and stared at her with amusement.

"Leave her alone." Grave Robber eyed her warily and collected from another customer.

"I'm not gonna hurt her, I just wanna know who she is. You were dragging a little girl around a while ago. Do you like little girls?" The woman taunted and ran a finger under Carly's chin, but before she could reach her jaw Carly smacked the woman's hand away.

"I'm a business associate, and if you would be so kind could you not fucking touch me." Carly sneered.

"This one's meaner." The woman pouted. "The younger one was cuter, I read all about her in the magazines..."

"I said leave her alone Mel." Grave Robber snapped.

"I'd listen to him." Carly cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm just havin' some fun. What do you do for fun sweet cheeks?" The woman sucked the inside of her check cockily.

"I cut people open for a living." Carly smiled curtly.

"You drag around some serious freaks Graves." The woman rolled her eyes and handed him her payment. Despite running her hands up and down Grave Robber's lapel to get his attention he said nothing, took the money, and gave Carly an approving wink.

"Gather round my children!" Grave Robber bellowed like a teacher during story time. "While some of you are enjoying my fine product for recreational use, there are those who are still on your quest for genetic perfection! If you are stick around, because I've got the best surgeon in town." Holding his hand out to Carly he summoned her over. "This is Doctor Wallace. She will take care of your every need for half the price, and better yet- no repossessions. She escaped the hand of the very that's holding the noose around your necks once you signed that contract."

"What bullshit are you feeding us Graves?" The same woman asked sarcastically and glared at Carly as if she were a snake. Carly shrugged and pulled her GeneCo ID out of her pocket and showed it to the crowd.

"I hate them just as much as you all do. I'll take care of you as if you were my own." Carly promised.

"You couldn't be in better hands. Whatever you need, tell me first. We need to keep this gem a secret, don't we children? Don't reveal your secret to the enemy." Grave Robber wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave it a light, reassuring squeeze.

"If any of you are interested, please come over here so we can talk." Carly called whoever was interested over to her spot so Grave Robber could get back to work. "What's your name, beautiful?"

"Polly." A little girl that seemed to be no older than 16 blushed.

"What do you need?" Carly pulled out a pen and paper.

"A heart, the doctors at GeneCo said it was defective." Polly frowned and touched.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I can fix that. Give me your last name, phone number, and address. I'll get in touch with you." Carly reached out and squeezed the little girls hand and took down the rest of her information.

The hours of the night seemed to move far too quickly as each page of her notebook filled up with names, numbers and adresses.

"Carly time to go." Grave Robber called over his shoulder once he noticed that the sun was about to rise.

"I'll give you call when we get everything in Julian, okay?" Carly smiled and put a star next to his name. The man nodded solemnly. He knew that he was dying rapidly and that there wasn't much time. "Hey, don't worry. You're at the top of the list." she caught the man in a hug.

"...thank you." Julian whispered and disappeared off into the darkness like the rest of her patients.

"Doctor Wallace, I have this terrible affliction." Grave Robber wailed and hobbled over in feigned pain.

"What seems to the problem Mr. Robber?" Carly asked in the most serious tone that she could muster.

"I...I don't know. Some vicious girl just took a sledge hammer to my manhood a few hours ago. I thought I was okay but the damages seem to be more serious than I thought...Oh god!" Grave Robber cried and clutched onto her arms and stared up at her with puppy eyes.

"What a bitch." Carly stood as still as a rock and gave him a crooked smile.

"You are the worlds worst doctor, I'm dying by the minute here!" Grave Robber hung his head exasperatedly.

"Your cure is at home. Big fluffy pancakes and eggs will patch up any hemorrhaging." Carly patted his head.

"Whatever you say doc." Grave Robber linked arms with her as they walked back for breakfast.


	7. Chapter 7

"Carly, I've implemented one more rule of the house…not that we had any to begin with." Grave Robber and carefully put the last organ on ice.

"That being?" Carly mused and prepped for her first surgery, She had called Julian and set up an appointment that very day.

"When you come home, you are to go straight to the shower. All the hairs in my nose have been singed away." Grave Robber was used to the foulest of corpse smells but this amount of disinfectant was beginning to make him light headed.

"You got it chief. Do me a favor and turn on the vent?"

"How many surgeries do you have scheduled for today?" Grave Robber helped wipe down the gurney.

"Three. I'll be home at around eight and then come with you again tonight to round up some more clients." Carly said absent mindedly and pulled the sheets of the recovery beds in the adjacent room further down the beds. "You can go home, you know." Carly called out to him.

"Are you kicking me out?" Grave Robber laughed and loaded the zydrate gun he'd gotten a hold of for her.

"Of course not but I don't see a reason why you'd stay. You'll be bored out of your mind." Carly shrugged.

"Well you're gonna need help aren't you? You can't lift the stretcher all by yourself. And lets face it you can't take a looter down." Grave Robber chuckled before scrunching his nose as if it would prevent the chemical odor from assaulting his nose.

"You work with dead bodies Grave Robber."

"Indeed. A body is hard for a woman to lift all by yourself, alive or dead."

"You think so?" Carly sucked on her teeth and glared at him. _At times his obliviousness befuddled her._

"I know so-" Grave Robbers retort was cut short when he felt his legs suddenly being kicked from beneath him. He recovered quickly and grabbed Carly's wrist pulling her to him and pulled her hands behind her back. "That wasn't nice."

"What you said wasn't nice." Carly snickered and kicked her leg up to quickly jab him in the shin enough to distract him, and the force from her foot was enough to make his leg buckle, sending them both to the ground. While Grave Robber was stronger, and had more brute force, Carly was quicker and more agile.

"You have yet to prove me wrong." Grave Robber's grin flew off of his face when Carly elbowed him in the ribs and sprung away from him with a back summersault with a sly smile on her face. Standing up, Grave Robber glared at her playfully and took a step toward her, making her flinch, but kept his distance. They stared at each other like two animals in battle for what seemed like an eternity. Without warning Grave Robber hurtled over the bed that separated them. Backing her up against the wall, Grave Robber pressed his body flush against her. But he stopped dead in his tracks when he felt the cold metal of a scalpel against the base of his neck. Grave Robber's eyes shifted down to her with intrigue and a smile that was returned before stepping back and knocking the scalpel out of her hand and pinned it above her head. His eyes widened however, when he felt another coldness against his chin. The unmistakable click of the gun _he himself_ had given her, being cocked made him swallow the lump that suddenly formed in his throat.

"Care to retract your statement?" Carly smirked, feeling like she had just defeated an army. Proving Grave Robber wrong was a battle in itself, and she was certain that it hardly ever happened.

He had lost the physical battle, but knew that he could win her over with the charm that he was famous for. He continued to hold on tightly to her wrist and slowly leaned forward. Her finger tightened on the trigger ever so slightly before he whispered into her ear, "I owe you an apology Dr. Wallace, do you want me on my knee's?"

She shivered as Grave Robber ran a few fingers gently over her knee, and holstered her gun. "I respect you, Grave Robber. I'm not Amber." She let out shakily as he buried his nose into her hair.

"That's for sure. You know I'm only being a bastard because I want to see you safe." Grave Robber sighed and -much to his disappointment- retracted his nose from her locks and let go of her wrist to pull her into a tender embrace.

"I know…" Carly sighed and leaned her nose into the crook of his neck. She felt her body relax against his as she inhaled his scent. It was an intoxicating mix of soap, coffee and earth. Grave Robber's head snapped to their right as someone knocked on the door. "I'll get it." Carly looked through the peep hole before opening the door and greeting her first client, Julian.

"Good morning Dr. Wallace." Julian gave her a small smile and waved shyly to Grave Robber as he followed her into the operating room.

"Good morning Julian, do me a favor and make yourself comfortable on the table." Carly smiled and proceeded to insert a zydrate infused IV into Julian's shaking arm. The young man stared up at her fearfully. Whether it was fear from taking a leap of faith in her medical skills or the possibility of whole situation being a set up, she didn't know. "I know this must be incredibly frightening for you. But I promise, when you wake up you will be as good as new. It's a simple procedure, you just stepped into the game a little later. Okay?" Carly held Julian's free hand as he wiped away a few tears with his other.

"Okay." He squeezed her hand back in return.

"Okay Julian, I need you to lay back and relax before we start. Take a few deep breaths, then count back from ten." Carly checked his heart monitor and injected a straight shot of Zydrate laced with other local anesthetics to knock him out. Slowly Julian began to count. "Ten…nine…eight…seven…six..." She was caught off guard when she saw Grave Robber staring at her from the door.

"What?" Carly asked from behind her protective mask and finished scrubbing.

"Nothing...May I watch?" Grave Robber asked cautiously. He dealt with the dead but was always interested in learning the anatomy of both ends of his clientele.

"Sure. Just put on a mask, a protective coat and wash your hands." Carly motioned over to the supplies and drew a line down the center of her patients chest. Carly went took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment before dragging the blade above over Julian's flesh and making the first incision.

Grave Robber watched curiously as Carly''s hands wove around with grace, stitching and cutting Julian's new heart into place. It lay there motionless as the monotone beep rang out, telling them that for the moment he had joined the departed. To his surprise that moment made Grave Robber antsy. Julian lay there motionless and not breathing while Carly cut off the last stitch, and it seemed that every second she waited dragged out.

"This is the best part." Carly's eyes wide flickered up at Grave Robber's narrowed ones as she gently tapped at the new and motionless organ. "Come on…come on…" Carly murmured to herself and stared at the heart intently. For a moment Grave Robber was afraid the procedure was unsuccessful, until the heart turned pink and began to pump. "Atta boy, Julian." He could literally hear the smirk that the surgical mask was hiding.

* * *

With the final staple, Carly sighed and Grave Robber wheeled Julian into the recovery room to come out of the anesthetic.

"You hungry, doll?" Grave Robber asked from behind his newspaper.

"Actually yes. But we can grab a bite to eat once-"

"…Doctor…Dr. Wallace?" A tiny voice that seemed to belong to a mouse came from Julian's lps.

"Look who's awake." Carly at her patient.

"Did everything go okay?" The boy asked and gently touched the staples on his chest.

"Perfectly. Oh no don't touch those!" Carly exclaimed quietly.

"Sorry. So, when can I get going?" Julian asked nervously and sat up, assumingly feeling no pain what so ever. Both Carly and Grave Robber took a moment to marvel at the power of zydrate, how forty years ago any patient having gone through that kind of surgery would have taken months to fully recover and would be paralyzed in pain.

"Now as long as you're feeling alright. You have my number, please call me if there is anything wrong at all before I see you in two weeks. And if you need more zydrate you know where to find our friendly neighborhood Grave Robber." Carly graciously accepted her payment.

"Thank you Dr. Wallace." Julian caught her off guard when he embraced her in a tight hug.

"It was my pleasure, stay safe." Carly smiled, bid her first patient a goodbye and locked the door behind him. Her eyes fluttered shut with content and her shoulders sagged in satisfaction. Another life saved. Grave Robbers heavy, warm hands gently glided over her shoulders and rubbed over her tense muscles as he smiled proudly at her.

"I'm buyin' you pancakes."


	8. Chapter 8

Grave Robber's eyes flicked over from the door to the clock anxiously. Between surfing through channels. Lifting his wrist, he pressed the button to call Carly but hung up when she slowly stepped through the door.

"Did your surgery run late?" Grave Robber got off the couch.

"No." Carly yawned and tiredly hung up her coat and stayed facing the wall while trifling through her pockets.

"How was your day?" He asked suspiciously. She wasn't running up to him and fawning over what ever procedure she'd just finished.

"Fine. Just tiring."

"What the fuck happened?" Grave Robber gently grabbed her face by her chin when he saw the abrasion on her cheek.

"Just some stupid junkies wanted money." She brushed it off and looked away from him.

"Did they take anything?" He asked and examined the rest of her body for injuries.

"Just my pride, Graves. They weren't happy when they discovered that I had nothing on me." She shrugged and kicked off her shoes.

"You're not walking home by yourself anymore." He shook his head angrily.

"I scared 'em off. Don't be ridiculous." Carly scoffed before laying back on the bed and throwing a pillow over her face. Grave Robber gently sat on the end of the bed and tapped her foot.

"I don't want you walking back on your own." Grave Robber grumbled and handed her a glass of wine, which she gladly took.

"We'll see." Carly mumbled and set the glass down. She gave out a loud sigh of relif as Grave Robber's fingers slowly kneaded the bottoms of her sore feet.

For a while they both shared bottles of wine, discussing their days, about her surgeries and his clients, and about old stories.

"You wouldn't believe have the shit people wanted." Carly shook her head.

"How long did you work for GeneCo?" Grave Robber asked and repositioned himself comfortably against the head board.

"As a doctor…four years. All together I was there since I was eight." Carly frowned and took another sip of wine. "That place can kiss my ass." She let out a drunken snort or disgust.

"Okay, I think that's enough wine." He laughed and set the bottle on the ground.

"I remember as a kid I would sit on my and dad's bed and pretend I was stranded on the ocean, looking for my baby sister." Carly sighed and stared at the end of the bed wistfully. He knew that this was an area she wouldn't even attempt venturing to if she were sober but his curiosity was biting at him like fire ants.

"After my mom died there wasn't much time to be a kid."

"What happened? How did you wind up there?" Grave Robber eyed her curiously and waited for an answer.

"They took me." Carly's eyes narrowed with anger as she stared at the wall.

* * *

_13 years ago…_

_Nathan Wallace hung his head in agony as the loud monotone beep rung out and echoed off the walls. His precious Marnie was dead. With a loud bang his basement door was kicked open and flooded with GeneCo cops._

_"Oh Nathan, what have you done" Rotti's grave voice penetrated through the sound of the wailing doctor._

_"No!" Nathans screamed._

_"Sir the infant is alive but fading." A gentern called over and wrapped the newborn in a blanket._

_"Rotti, I can't go to prison. Shilo will need a father. Carly will need a father." Nathan turned to his boss with pleading eyes._

_"It comes with a price Nathan." Rotti warned the man he betrayed._

_"Sir the infant is slipping."_

_"Yes, yes whatever it is!" Nathan cried frantically. With a snap of Rotti's fingers a contract was placed in front of him. Nathan blindly signed the contract but froze when a Repo man's helmet was placed in front of him and when a scream was heard from upstairs._

_"Carly!" Nathan called out and got out of his chair to get her, only to be pushed back down by Rotti "If you hurt my daughter so help me I'll-"_

_"We have a deal here, Nathan. You won't be doing anything. Both of your daughters will live, you will get to raise Shilo, your secret is safe with me as long as you hold up your end of the deal." Rotti stated and tucked the contract in his pocket._

_"Touch her and I swear I'll kill you." Nathan growled and grabbed Rotti by the collar._

_"I didn't want to have to resort to collateral Nathan but I can see that if I don't we're going to have a problem." Rotti sighed and looked over at the guard holding Carly at gun point._

_"Daddy…" she sniffled fearfully and tried to get free of the guard holding her. Nathan bitterly let go of Rotti's collar and covered Marni's face with the bloodied sheet._

_"Look at it this way, both of your girls are alive and well…seeing as you can't behave yourself Carly will be coming with us." Rotti straightened his jacket._

_"No!" Nathan whispered desperately._

_"You signed the contract." Rotti stated._

_"Daddy no!" Carly cried and fought harder against the guard._

_"Save your baby." Rotti motioned everyone out. The gentern placed Shlo into Nathan arms._

_"Daddy don't let them take me! Please!" Carly screamed and begged as Rotti carried her away._

_"Don't worry little one. We'll make you one of GeneCo's finest surgeons doesn't that sound nice?" Rotti asked and patted her hair. He would be damned if he let one of the last pieces of Marnie he had, stay with the man who took her away from him._

_"Daddy!" Carly screamed for her father who sat in the chair holding Shilo with an expressionless face._

* * *

Grave Robber felt an unsettling hole in his stomach form by the end of her story. She had found out her mother died, her father gave her up to raise her sister, she was taken from everything she knew and handed over to monsters all in one night. Her entire life unraveled in a matter of hours, and no one even cared. Her life after that was full of quick med school, sexual abuse, anguish and hated.

"He never came back to find me. He left me to rot there. Rotti loved me like a father should have even though I hated him, and his kids tortured me…" Carly set her now empty wine glass on the nightstand. "Dad did everything for Shilo and left me to rot." Grave Robber rucked her head under his chin and wrapped his arm tightly around her.

"She never knew that you existed. No one did, I promise that if she knew she would have tried to find you." Grave Robber assured her.

"That was the plan wasn't it?" Carly shook her head.

"Would you ever like to meet her?" Grave Robber asked mused and moved a piece of hair out of Carly's face.

"Maybe…" Carly sighed tiredly, curled against his side and shut her eyes. "When I leave, will you forget me?" her voice was barley a whisper.

"…Never." Grave Robber shook his head and draped the blankets over the two of them and falling asleep as well.


End file.
